Skip to main content

Category: Ministry Leadership

Covers topics such as leadership skills, sustainable leadership, women in leadership, leading teams, developing leaders, meetings

16 Books on My 2016 Reading List

Kathie Phillips

2016 reading list

Happy New Year, friends!  I hope you’ve had a great (albeit short) start to 2016!

A new year brings so many possibilities, doesn’t it?  It’s a time most of us reflect on what we’ve done, what we’d like to do.  Many of us aim to do more of this, less of that…

I have always loved to read.  Whether for pleasure or professional development, reading has been one of my favorite hobbies since I was a teenager.  In 2015, I read more than I have in recent years.  Not because I had more time (I didn’t) but because I made it more of a priority.  Every day.

One of my goals for 2016 is to continue to feed my soul through books.

“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” ― Harry S. Truman

Click To Tweet

I have chosen 16 books to read in 2016:

For The Love by Jen Hatmaker (I started this book in 2015 – looking forward to finishing)

Move: Nine Conversations to Build Your Kids Ministry by Brannon Marshall

Leading & Loving It: Encouragement for Pastors’ Wives and Women in Leadership by Lori Wilhite and Brandi Wilson

Team Up! The Family Ministry Playbook for Partnering with Parents by Phil Bell

Every Child Welcome: A Ministry Handbook for Including Kids With Special Needs by Katie Wetherbee and Jolene Philo

Do Over by Jon Acuff

The Fringe Hours by Jessica Turner

Teams That Thrive by Kal Otis and Michelle Marx

7 Family Ministry Essentials by Michelle Anthony and Megan Marshman

Wholly Kids by LifeWay Kids

The Bee Eater by Richard Whitmire

Dear Mary by Sarah Jakes Roberts

Tweetable Leadership by Jim Wideman

Audacious by Beth Moore

The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker

Your Beautiful Purpose by Susie Larson

What’s on your “To Read” list for 2016?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

11 Great Team Meeting Questions

Kathie Phillips 2 Comments

11 Great Team Meeting Questions

Good leaders know to ask questions.  Great leaders know how to ask the right questions.  When you gather your team around the table, it’s crucial to ask the right questions.

Every Tuesday, I gather my team to debrief the previous Sunday and plan for the upcoming week(s).  Debriefing is important to celebrate what went well and to adjust what didn’t.  Planning is important to execute things well and make sure everyone’s on the same page.

In order to debrief well, here are some questions that I might ask:

  • What were the ‘wins’?  What went well?
  • What didn’t go well?  What needs to be improved?
  • What stories did you hear from volunteers, children or parents?
  • Does anything need to be fixed or replaced?
  • What volunteer(s) needs an encouraging word this week?
  • Who can we personally thank this week? [This is usually done with a handwritten note.]

When moving forward in planning for what’s coming up, I typically ask one or more of these questions, depending on what we’re working on:

  • What events are coming up this week?  What prep needs to be made?
  • Are there any supplies that need to be replenished/purchased/ordered/borrowed?
  • What needs to be communicated to our volunteers?
  • What needs to be communicated to parents (via email, snail mail, newsletter, social media or website)?
  • Who’s responsible for what? What are the action steps?

Keep the conversation going!  What questions are asked at your team meetings?

Preparing for Move Up Sunday

Kathie Phillips

move-up-sunday 2015

My team and I have been busy preparing for our Move Up (Promotion) Sunday this weekend.  There’s always a lot to do to make sure that everything – and everyone – is ready to go!  Can you relate?

Here is a snapshot of how we’ve prepared:

Volunteers

Everything from recruiting to our kick-off event to making sure paperwork is up-to-date, everything related to staffing our classrooms and equipping those leaders ramps up in the month of August.  We want to make sure that those who are partnering with us in classrooms and small groups are well-equipped and supported to do the work that God has called them to (through large group venues like our kick-off event or one-on-one over coffee or a meal).  This step is crucial to our overall ministry’s success.

Curriculum & Supplies

During the summer months, we declutter our storage closets and inventory supplies so that they can be restocked.  This summer, we’ve ordered worship equipment, items for small groups (colorful rugs, games, walkie talkies for each classroom and members of our security team, and books for leaders), craft supplies, electronic check-in printer labels, storage bins and other essentials.

We also plan our lesson schedules for the year, edit curriculum, print lessons and activity pages and other curriculum-related tasks.

Physical Spaces

A year of ministry can take a beating on our physical spaces, so each summer we spruce up classrooms and hallways by updating signage, purchasing equipment and painting.  This year, we’re so excited that our Nursery hallway and welcome areas will be painted in fun, inviting colors in time for Move Up Sunday!  We also take a look at room/space configurations to make sure that traffic flows well and that space is maximized as much as possible.

Parent Communication

Move Up Sunday is a big Sunday for us (there are lots of moving parts and lots of people to move), so we want to make sure that parents know what to expect.  This means communicating through every avenue possible, such as our website, our church’s Facebook page, our ministry’s Facebook page, email, electronic newsletter, and environmental signage.  On Move Up Sunday, we’ll have additional volunteers on hand who will greet and direct families to the right rooms.  These volunteers will be wearing an Ask Me! name tag (and a smile) and have a clipboard with the room numbers and assignments to make this transition go as smoothly as possible.

Prayer

As a staff team as well as individually, we commit Move Up Sunday to prayer.  Things we cover in prayer include, but are not limited to:

  • Protection for volunteers (against sickness for them or their children, transportation, etc.)
  • New families
  • Children entering a new classroom environment
  • Anxiety (for parents, children, new volunteers)
  • Excitement for the beginning of a new ministry year
  • Stamina, rest, and contagious energy for our staff team

There are just a few last-minute details to tend to and then we’ll be ready!  It’s going to be a great year!

Keep the conversation going!  Leave a comment below to share how you prepare for Move Up Sunday.  You can also upload pictures of your ministry spaces on our Facebook page.

A Peek Inside our Luau-Themed Volunteer Training

Kathie Phillips

This past Sunday, we hosted our annual Children’s Ministry volunteer training.  It was the second year that we’ve themed this event.  Last year, our theme was a tailgate.  This year, we chose to do a Hawaiian Luau.  It was so much fun and very well-received by our volunteers.

CM_LUAU1

This year, we wanted to include not only new and returning volunteers but those considering serving in our ministry as well.  We had a packed room full of adults and students who responded to God’s call to join us in ministry this year.  This was also the first year that we held our training on a Sunday after our morning services rather than a weeknight.  We have found that having folks stay around when they’re already at church (and giving them lunch!) yields a much better turnout.

Guests arrived to a large room at our church that was decorated with Hawaiian flowers, leis, tiki bar backdrop and tropical colors (orange, yellow, lime green, hot pink and purple).  Once inside the room, guests were welcomed, encouraged to pick up necessary paperwork, given a ticket for the chance to win fun prizes and allowed to choose a lei to wear.

Luau - pic 2
Ministry area handbooks, adult applications (white) and student applications (purple)

Guests were then invited to help themselves to a delicious lunch buffet, which consisted of:

  • Footlong sub sandwiches (turkey, ham and veggie)
  • Potato chips
  • Edible beach balls (cheese balls)
  • Fresh fruit cups
  • Cookies
  • Hawaiian Punch and bottled water

Our tables were set with a simple centerpiece (a glass bowl filled with play sand, seashells and votive candles that we had on hand).  Under each bowl was a sheet of chalkboard paper and pieces of chalk.  At each set, we placed a “Say Yes to the Next Generation” notepad and a personalized pen.

After a little while of fellowship around the tables, we started with the business of the day.  You can download our event outline here.

Here are a few of Pinterest-inspired ideas we used:

For even more ideas, check out my KidMin – Luau Pinterest board.

I wonder what next year’s theme will be…

It’s your turn to share!  What fun volunteer training themes have you done?  I’d also love to see your pictures!  Upload them to our Facebook page.

error: Content is protected !!